The tale of Elsa of the ice
by chrissesniper
Summary: Elsa runs away from her home and goes to Arendelle where she meets princess Anna. The two become close to eachother when Elsa saves Anna's life but disturbing news soon arrive about Finnmark and Elsa must choose between returning home to face her demons or stay in Arendelle and try to forget the past. And will the two women realize their feelings for eachother before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Hi! This is my first story ever so i apologize if the writing isn't the best but i am posting this mainly because i want to develop those skills so i will greatly appreciate any reviews! I am not yet entirely sure where this story is going so i will gladly accept any ideas you might have. I do realise some things in this chapter may seem a bit odd because you do not get an explanation as to why certain things have happened happen but don't worry! I am saving a lot of details for later chapters. I also have no schedule for when to update so new chapters will pop up sporadically. I am planning for this to be relatively long though. Also, this is Elsanna but they are NOT sisters. Anyway, i hope you enjoy this and thank you for your time!**

**Edit: I have changed some things in this chapter to better suite the way i want Elsa's character to be. I also changed to proper quotation marks since a guest reviewer brought to my attention that i was using the wrong ones. I will try to have chapter two up within a week! I also changed the summary when i realized it dit not fit the story i had in mind. I really suck at summaries...**

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><p>Elsa ran through the forest as fast as she could while tears were freely streaming down her face. She didn't care where she went so long as she just got away from here. Because of her, the kingdom was without an heir. She strongly doubted the king and queen wanted her to inherit the kingdom anyways, they would have preferred her sister. She didn´t blame them though, who wouldn't?<p>

That was part of the reason she was now running through the woods in the middle of winter. The other reason... no, she didn't even want to think about that right now since it only made the pain in her chest all the more unbearable. She tried to just focus on trying to not run in to any trees since her vision was close to zero because of the darkness of the night combined with the tears making what little she could see turn into a blurry mess. She wasn't affected by the cold of the snow she was running through though, because of her... _powers_... she had never been bothered by the cold.

She had always insisted on calling them just that, _powers_, even though there was never anyone but herself that thought otherwise. Not even her own sister whom she still loved above all else, because at least her sister did not hate or resent her in any way. She had always told herself that they were all wrong, that her control of ice and snow was not some evil curse but something that held an immense beauty. Those thoughts were gone from her head now. The events of this evening had made her hate herself and what she could do more than anything else. The fact that she was immune to the cold was no longer a good thing because without that immunity she would probably be close to dying from the cold and death would most certainly be welcomed right now.

She was becoming increasingly aware of the burning in her legs caused by the fact that she had been running for almost an hour now. She refused to let herself rest though. She didn´t deserve to.

Eventually she became too exhausted to keep moving and collapsed in the snow. Her tears had stopped falling by now, not because her sadness was subsiding but because there were no more tears to be shed. She laid in a drift of snow, chest down with her head twisted to her right looking over the mountains that surrounded the small kingdom of Finnmark. The town that had until this night been her home was nowhere to be seen because of the late hour. Everyone had long since retired for the night and thus all the lights were out.

After having laid down in the snow for quite some time wondering if she would ever see her home again, if she ever _wanted_ to see her home again, she got up on her feet and once again started running, although at a much calmer pace than before.

After thinking some more while running she came to a decision. She was going to get to some place where no one knew who she was to hopefully live somewhat isolated for the rest of her life. Or at the very least live without people knowing about what she could do, about what she had already done.

Her head started clearing enough for her to think about where she could go, but even though her head cleared a bit, the pain in her chest, around her heart, did not subside in the least. It would probably never do so.

She finally settled on the kingdom of Arendelle since it was the one closest to where she was now and despite their proximity Finnmark and Arendelle had never had a whole lot of contact with each other. This would make it less likely that someone would recognize her.

So she used the stars to navigate through the night towards Arendelle with her sadness and loneliness being her only companions throughout the night.

**23 days later**

She was finally closing in on the capital city of Arendelle. For the last three weeks she had been living off what she bought when travelling through small villages and towns. Her escape had not been unplanned after all so she had made sure she had a lot of money with her. She had managed to get a hold of a large backpack, some new clothes and a small tent on her way through the towns of Arendelle. She was currently wearing a simple, red, ankle length dress, a pair of black boots, a white cloak and purple gloves. the gloves were more of a precautionary thing because they helped with keeping her powers under control. The last thing she would want to happen was losing control of her powers in public.

She had mostly stuck to smaller less used roads so far but when she had asked for directions in the latest village she was in and was told Arendelle city was just a couple hours walk along the main road but close to a day on the smaller ones she thought she could just as well take the main road. After all, once she got to the city, being around lots of people would be inevitable. She knew this posed a large risk to her but her plan was to just stay in the city for a couple of months just to see if news of what had happened in Finnmark spread to Arendelle. It was highly unlikely but if it did she wanted to know as quickly as possible to make sure she could escape in time.

After walking for about another hour or so houses started to appear around the road and the forest became less dense. Soon the city came into view and she just stood on the top of a hill that the road went over and marveled at the scenery in front of her.

The large city was sprawled out over the land in front of a smaller fjord, a bridge running to an island in the middle of it on which the palace was built. Snow covered mountains surrounded the city and the frozen fjord and the midday sunlight made the entire icy land glisten.

All in all it was a beautiful sight to behold.

She made her way into the city to find a place where she could stay for however long she needed. The town was rather quiet since there were hardly any merchant stands set up on the streets and only a few people here and there visiting the apothecary shop or making an early visit to a tavern. She made her way to an inn that she thought at least had an appealing outer appearance hoping they would have a room free for an indefinite amount of time.

She opened the door to the tavern which set off a bell that was connected to the door to alert the owner of the tavern to the fact that a customer had entered.

With the hood of her cloak pulled over her head covering most of her face, and her platinum blonde braid tucked in underneath it, she made her way to the man standing behind the counter.

He was of medium height, rather well built with broad shoulders and brown hair with matching eyes.

As she approached the man he smiled, greeted her and politely asked what she wanted.

''I was wondering if you happen to have a free room for quite a long time ahead?'' She asked.

''Yes, of course!'' He answered brightly. ''We rarely have people occupying our rooms at this time of year. How long does 'quite a long time' mean if you don't mind me asking?''

''I am not quite sure at the moment, probably a couple of months at least.''

''Wow, I do not think we have ever had anyone staying here for that long before but I am sure that can be arranged for.'' He said with a smile.

''Thank you.''

''You are most welcome miss. If you want we can set up a monthly cost for your occupancy so you will not have to pay quite as much per day since you are staying for such a long time.''

''That would be great, thank you very much sir.'' She said politely.

He chuckled a bit before speaking to her again.

''Please, just call me Ivar.''

''Elsa.''

They decided on how much she was to pay for the room and she was then led to it by Ivar. He gave her the key and told her that if she needed anything all she needed to do was tell him. She just responded with a curt nod and entered the room.

As she laid down on the bed at the far end of the surprisingly nice room she thought of what she should do for the upcoming months in the city. Because she had decided to try to socialize with as few people as possible, Elsa came to the conclusion that the upcoming months would become rather uninteresting and uneventful. She didn't mind though, that was the way she wanted it to be.

Despite the early hour, Elsa fell asleep on the bed as soon as she had placed her backpack beside it.

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><p>That night like so many others she was haunted by nightmares. They were just like the ones she had ever since her parents and the castle staff had found out about her powers. Dreams about dark shadows whispering things all around her. That she was a monster, a freak, a curse that ought to be gotten rid of.<p>

Then the dream changed and she saw her sister staring at her from the castle stairs leading up to the floor of their rooms. Her mouth moved but no sound came. A small trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth and Elsa could just stand there in chock as she finally registered the spike of ice that ran from the ground in front of her through her sisters chest. Then all life left her sisters eyes as she slipped off the ice and landed dead on her back.

Elsa woke up with a scream noticing tears falling down her cheeks. As she recognized where she was she fell face down on her pillow and started sobbing quietly. Not a single night had gone since she ran away that she had not dreamt of her sister, the only person she had ever loved and the only person that had not hated her. The sister she had killed.

No more sleep came to her that night.

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><p>As the sun started to rise Elsa got out of the bed to change her clothes since she had not cared to undress after her nightmares woke her up. She quickly changed into a deep purple dress of similar design as the red one she had worn the day before. She also put on a black bodice and a black hooded cloak as well as the same boots as the day before. She redid her braid and exited the room.<p>

As she went outside the inn she took in a deep breath of the cold crisp air. Normally the beautiful morning would have brought her joy, but any form of happiness seemed impossible for her to feel anymore. In fact, any feelings beside sadness had become fleeting.

Elsa made her way through the relatively empty city until she came to a large marketplace in the middle of the city. The edges of the now empty marketplace were lined with a variety of stores.

As she stood there checking which different stores there were to be found she heard voices approaching from one of the road on the opposite side of the marketplace.

''... Explain to me again why we have to go all the way in here to get what you want instead of just asking the kitchen staff?''

As Elsa listened she saw a young woman with fiery red hair walk into the marketplace closely followed by two guards.

''Becaaause, no one makes chocolate pastries like Oaken!'' The red haired girl replied gleefully.

Elsa watched as they entered the patisserie and decided she would follow them. She found the redheaded girl strangely interesting, mainly because she was obviously of noble birth, what with the guards and all. But still she acted so casually, the nobles she had spent time with herself were mostly dull and extremely formal. But Elsa also thought the girl looked slightly familiar so she wanted to find out more about who she was.

Unfortunately for Elsa though, she had not expected the young redhead to be done with her shopping at the same time Elsa was about the shop and thus she ended up bumping in to the younger woman as they were both about to go through the door at the same time.

The redhead fell back with a surprised yelp and landed on her butt on the floor while Elsa stumbled back a few steps. Elsa's eyes widened with fear and she was glad she still wore her gloves because if she hadn't her powers would most likely have made an appearance.

One of the guards quickly stepped in between the young woman and Elsa.

''I am so, so sorry! Are you okay?'' She asked the redhead.

''Yeah, I think so. My dress however is a completely different story.''

Elsa looked down at the other woman's dress and noticed her entire chest was now smeared with chocolate. The box of chocolate pastries itself laid on the floor, beyond all rescue.

''Again, I'm so sorry about that. I'll replace both the dress and the chocolate for you, just tell me how much it costs.'' She said and reached for the pouch filled with coins that she kept in her pocket.

''No, no, no. That won't be necessary. I have more than enough money to pay for the chocolates, and don't even get me started on how many dresses I have!'' The redhead replied while standing up.

One of the guards went to pick up the box of now mashed chocolates while the one that stood between the girl and Elsa turned to the younger woman with concern on his face.

''Are you sure you are okay, your highness?'' He asked.

''Yes, I'm sure.'' She replied.

Elsa's eyes widened in surprise and her eyebrows rose.

''Your highness?'' She asked.

''Oh, I'm sorry for not introducing myself. You are obviously not from around here, I would have recognized you if you were. I am princess Anna of Arendelle.'' The redhead said with a slight curtsy. ''And you are?''

''I am Elsa.'' She replied with a curtsy of her own.

''Nice to meet you Elsa. Albeit the circumstances of our meeting could be better.'' Anna said with a chuckle. ''Do you mind if I ask where you are from? I meet a lot of people that aren't from around here but most of them still know who I am.''

''I'm from quite a bit up north.'' Was all Elsa answered. Even though Finnmark and Arendelle rarely had any contact with each other at all she still found it best if she didn't tell Anna exactly where she was from as she might recognize her then. After all, Elsa herself had thought Anna looked a little familiar at first even though she couldn't put a name to her face just then. She had read about the Arendelle royal family a bit in a book when she was younger and probably recognized Anna from one of the pictures in that book.

''Oh, okay. Are you staying here in Arendelle for a long time?''

''Yes, although I do not know how long yet. I am guessing it will be for another couple of months or so.''

''Okay, I guess I will probably see you around some time then.'' She said and went to retrieve the new box of chocolate pastries that the owner of the shop had set up on the counter on the order of the guard that had picked up the old box.

''Yes, I guess you will.'' She answered as she stepped aside from the door to the shop to let them exit.

In spite of her decision to keep her interaction with other people to a minimum, Elsa found herself slightly interested in the princess and almost looked forward to meeting her again.

_'These few months might turn out more interesting than I first thought._' She thought while once again opening the door to enter the patisserie.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: I'm sorry this took so long to get out. I have had quite a lot of personal issues lately and i lost all motivation to write. I would like to give an enourmous thank you to Icy Wind for your review. It really got me going again and made me think that maybe this story isn't as bad as i thought it was. You sort of made me believe i could do this so... i did! Now this chapter is not very long at all but i was mostly to get me back on track. I can't say anything for sure about future updates, all i know is that i will be going away for a week on friday and i won't be able to write at all. I will do my best to keep updating though since i think things are about to get interesting...**

Three months had now passed since Elsa came to the capital of Arendelle and spring had just started to arrive. Elsa had not met Anna much at all during the time she had so far spent in Arendelle. She wasn't quite sure if that was a bad or a good thing though since befriending a princess was not really the best thing to do if you want to live undisturbed and secluded but at the same time she was inexplicably intrigued by the redhead and wanted to know more about her. The past three months had thus been among the most calm and uneventful of Elsa's life, which was something she was incredibly grateful for. The only bad thing was that she had only started to get marginally more sleep at night since the events prior to her escape were still haunting her when she was alone in her room at night. Unbeknownst to Elsa, everything was about to change.

Elsa was walking through the forest just outside the city limits. It was rather late, the sun had set several hours prior. The sky was clear and filled with stars. The full moon shone upon the mossy forest floor through the canopy of the trees surrounding her. During her time in the city she had found that the forest was the perfect place for her to go when she needed to be completely alone and relax, being around people large portions of each day took its toll on her mentally. Tonight she decided to take a different route from the one she normally walked though. She followed a small path seemingly only used by the local wildlife which she had learned during previous explorations led to a small clearing with a big rock in the center. She remembered this since the rock was flat on top and that made it a perfect place to lay down and watch the sky.

Elsa was enjoying the cool breeze blowing on her hands while she walked. She had chosen not to wear her gloves when going out on her walks since there had never been anyone else out in the forest at the time she was. She thought it felt good to have her hands unconfined and free after wearing gloves non-stop while in the city, she even wore them as she went to bed at night.

Her relaxation was abruptly interrupted though, when she heard a voice whisper something not very far off to her left. She quickly ducked into a patch of bushes to her right, just at the edge of the path she was walking on. She wasn't quite sure why she felt the urge to hide, something about the situation just made her feel uneasy. The voices (There were definitely two now) came a bit closer and went quiet shortly after she noticed the silhouettes of two people walking crouched in the same direction she had just been headed. As she observed them from her hiding spot in the bushes the moonlight caught something in one of their hands, something shiny.

_'A knife?' _She thought. _'Why are they sneaking around the forest at night with knives? No one checks any hunting traps this late.'_

As the whole situation got more suspicious she went against her better judgment and decided to follow them wherever it was they were going. She stuck to the shadows as best she could while crouching through the forest, keeping an eye on the two mysterious people ahead of her.

As if the whole situation wasn't ominous enough, a pack of wolves could be heard howling in the distance.

Elsa followed them through the forest for quite a long time, they were almost at the clearing now. When she was about thirty meters from the clearing and those she had followed were about to enter it, she stopped and found another set of bushes to hide in. She saw one of the men, for they were definitely men she had noticed, move around to the left to then move toward the rock. As he started climbing it Elsa could see someone shooting up into a sitting position on top of the rock. What was going on here?

When the man got up on top of the rock the other person shuffled backwards toward the edge of the rock. The man followed and struck the other person in the head, making them fall backwards off the rock and onto the forest floor with a thud. The yelp of pain at the strike proved the new person to be female. Elsa concealed a gasp behind her hands. When the woman on the ground pushed herself up with her arms onto all fours the man that stayed in the forest, the one with the knife, stepped forward. He grabbed her hair and put the knife against her throat then said something in a low threatening voice that Elsa could not quite discern. The woman shook her head and let out a whimper of pain as the knife presumably was pressed harder against her throat. Elsa watched in silent horror.

_'What should I do? The best thing would be to run back to the city and alert the guards but when they get here it will probably be too late. I have to stop this, but how? The only thing I can use to stop this is what I came here to conceal.' _As she thought this she looked down at her feet and saw that a layer of frost had started crawling out around her feet. She looked up at the clearing again. _'I have to stop this. I will deal with the repercussions later, I cannot sit by and let this poor woman get killed.'_ She slowly stood up and started silently walking up to the edge of the clearing. When she was only a couple meters away from them she saw who the woman was. It was Anna. To say Elsa was surprised would be a huge understatement, but all the years she had spent concealing her feelings weren't for nothing. She straightened her back and put on an indifferent face. No one had noticed her yet.

''I wouldn't do that if I was you.'' She said in a loud steady voice. The man's head whipped around to face her, the surprised look on his face morphed into a mocking one when he saw that she was alone.

''And what can you do about it if I go against your advice.'' She found his voice extremely unpleasant. It sounded like he spoke with half his mouth full of saliva.

''You don't want to find that out.'' She replied in a low threatening voice.

Anna turned her head slightly to look Elsa in the eye and opened her mouth to say something but the man noticed and yanked her head back harshly by the hold he had of her two braids. As she saw the glint of mirth in his eyes at Anna's obvious pain, she resented this man over everything else. To Elsa there was nothing worse than someone who found the pain of others amusing. The anger she felt welling up inside her caused the temperature around them to plummet. No one seemed to notice though. The other man was now coming around from behind the rock. The man holding Anna turned toward him.

''Get rid of her.'' He ordered and pointed at Elsa. The other one nodded and slowly walked toward her.

''Please, just leave now. I do not want to hurt you.'' Elsa warned as the man drew closer. They just laughed at her.

_''I guess there is no avoiding it now.'' _She thought _''I didn't ever want to hurt someone again but if I don't Anna will probably die, and I can't let that happen.''_ She did not know what it was that caused her to be willing to risk everything to save Anna, a person she had only ever met a couple times and never for more than a couple minutes. Elsa guessed it was the innocence she saw in Anna, an innocence that made her believe that maybe there was still something in this world worth living for. She thought of this as she raised both hands, palms open and pointed one at each man. She took a deep breath and focused on those good thoughts she had about Anna. She knew positive thoughts and feelings were the key to controlling her magic. She let the breath out and did what she had to. Instantly the knives edge was covered in a round smooth coating of ice and a rough ball of ice shot out from each of her hands and hit hard in the head of each man, knocking them out. The knife slid harmlessly against Anna's throat as them man holding her fell to the ground. Anna gave her a brief look of shock and fell over unconscious, probably from the stress and shock of the whole situation. Elsa walked over to Anna and scooped her up in her arms. She decided to leave the men on the ground for the guards to come get later. If they remembered her use of magic no one would probably believe them if they told about it so she didn't let the thought of that bother her. What did bother her though, was what Anna would do if she remembered. For now though, all that mattered was getting Anna back to the castle. She had a small wound on her throat from the knife that was bleeding a bit so Elsa ripped one of the sleeves off her dress at the elbow and tied it around the wound to stop the bleeding. Elsa started walking as fast as she could back to the city. Anna turned out to be very light so Elsa had no greater troubles with carrying her. While walking she looked down at Anna's sleeping face.

_''Why would you go out into the forest at night without your guards?'' _She wondered. Questions like that would have to wait though. Perhaps she would never get the opportunity to ask them. Everything depended on what Anna decided to do once she woke up. As the few lights still lit in the city came into view Elsa felt a slight fear of what lay ahead. She had no idea how Anna would react once she woke up. She just knew she had to get her to the castle. And she still didn't have her gloves.


End file.
